FireAndIce1975's Xanga

YAWN

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:46:31 GMT

I'm bored.

The job hunt continues. In the mean time, I've been killing time this week doing the usual stuff: cleaning, reading stuff on line, watching TV, and going to the gym. I've also been having lunch with friends just so that I have real, face to face human contact instead of chatting with people on line.

Other than that, it's been a "BodyCombat" week for me. I'm helping out with the release of BodyCombat #36, so I've been hitting the gym a lot in the last week. I will go again tonight, tomorrow, and this weekend. It's a good release, so I don't mind helping out the other instructors. They also help me out with my classes. Plus, I need to call on them to cover my classes now and then... like for the August long weekend when Peter and I head up to Montreal for Pride. I'm definitely looking forward to that!

On a more positive note: loving the summer weather!

Lack of competition = high prices

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:02:00 GMT

Time for a rant.

I love Canada. Really, I do. I think it's the greatest place in the world to live. However, I'm not delusional. Canada does have its share of short comings. I'm not talking about the crazy winters or the seperatists in Quebec. No, I'm talking about cell phones.

For those of you who are not familiar with the Canadian mobile phone landscape, there are basically three service providers: Telus, Bell, and Rogers. (I won't include Fido because it is part of Rogers, and Koodo is part of Telus.) Other lesser players include Virgin Mobile and Solo, which basically buy capacity from and operate on Bell's network. Only Rogers & Fido operate on the GSM standard. All the others use CDMA.

This limited number of carriers has meant that Canadians have been paying too much for mobile phone service. It's Economics 101: when you have an oligopoly (a market dominated by a few sellers), the lack of competition generally results in higher prices and a lack of innovation. This is particularly true in Canada where within the oligopoly, Rogers is the only carrier to have a GSM network. This means that cell phone manufacturers that want to sell their GSM phones in Canada, such as Nokia or Sony Ericsson, either have to work exclusively with Rogers, or adapt their models to work on CDMA networks. Some, like Motorola and RIM, have chosen to do work with all carriers. It also means that, with the exception of RIM, most manufacturers bring their phones to Canada much later than they do to countries in Asia and Europe. For example, the Sony Ericsson phone I came back to Toronto with in 2005 was introduced in Canada in 2006, or about 18 months after I got it in Taiwan.

Where am I going with this? You'll see.

Enter the Apple iPhone!

Steve Jobs annouced that the new 3G iPhone would be sold in a number of countries around the world, including Canada, starting July 11, 2008. People got excited! Finally, a state of the art phone is coming to Canada! It didn't surprise anyone that Rogers got the phone since it has the only network that can support the iPhone. But what did shock people were the price plans and the contracts. I won't go into details, but basically if you want an iPhone, you have to sign a THREE-year contract with Rogers for monthly service that starts at $60/month. However, if you add in the "System Access Fee", taxes, and basic features like call display, you're looking at close to $100/month for three years. There is no other option. If you want an iPhone, you're stuck with Rogers for 36 months, and if you cancel the service early, you get hit with a cancelation penalty of up to $400. The clincher is that none of the Rogers service plans include unlimited data plans, unlike in other places, so if you're not careful with your iPhone, you could end up paying a whole lot more. Oh the joys of having a monopoly!

So if you're set on an iPhone, have fun with your long term relationship with Ted.

What do you do if you're mad as hell at this injustice? Do what 50,000 other people have done: sign an online petition that Rogers seems to be unphased by and unconcerned with.

An alternative: switch to another carrier. Bell and Telus are trying to compete with the iPhone by introducing alternatives, like the Samsung Instinct and the HTC Diamond. They are even offering unlimited data plans. But watch out for the fine print. Bell's SAF is almost $9/month, and today Bell & Telus announced that they would be charging for incoming text messages.

What about Virgin? Solo? Koodoo? Sure, you can go with them if all you want is a basic cell phone. But if you want a Blackberry or iPhone or equivalent, you're stuck with the big three and their outrageous fees.

So why do I care? Because three year bond to Rogers is almost up and I'm thinking about what to do next. Do I tie myself to Rogers for another three years just to get a discount on a new phone? I think not. I'm going to wait and see what happens with the spectrum auction that's been going on here in Canada. In theory, new entrants will come into the cell phone market meaning more competitors, which means prices will come down. Again, this is in theory. The new entrants will want to differentiate themselves from the existing players, and will likely be aggressive in their efforts to attract customers (read: steal) to their company. The big players will have to respond. Or maybe they won't. It all remains to be seen.

For now, I'm just curious to see if the rumours are true: Did Apple give Rogers a slap on the wrist and limit the number of iPhones to Canada in time for the launch on Friday? Curious minds want to know. I want to know!

In case you were interested... an update :-)

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 14:24:02 GMT

Next Friday, June 20, 2008, I'll collect that piece of paper I've been working my butt off to get for the past two academic years. I'll have my Master of Business Administration and shift from student to alumni of the Rotman School of Management. Sweet!

I actually wrapped up my academic responsibilities on April 24, 2008 at 4 p.m. when I put my pen down at my last exam. That morning I had submitted my final paper for another class, so there was nothing left for me to do after that exam except drop my stuff off at Peter's place and go out for dinner to celebrate. And boy did we celebrate! We went to George, had the tasting menu with wine pairings, and left three hours later very happy (read: drunk) and full. Not the kind of thing you can do every weekend, but definitely acceptable for a special occassion.

For the past two months I've been applying for jobs like a mad man, and I'm happy to say that I'm finally making progress in that area. I've had interviews with a few different companies, both over the phone and in person, and am now playing the waiting game. I hope that by the end of the month I'll have secured a job and can move forward with my career.

Aside from job hunting I've been hitting the gym regularly, teaching BodyCombat classes, reading, downloading podcasts, babysitting my niece now and then, and hanging out with friends. When school ended it was a bit of a shock to the system because I'd been going full tilt for almost two years and then it all came to an abrupt stop. I went from having no time to having nothing to do, and being the A-type that I am, I quickly found other things to keep me busy like cleaning Peter's apartment. Eventually I learned to just relax, so although I still try to keep the apartment tidy, I don't obsess too much and spend a good amount of time just enjoying the weather, chatting with friends, and relaxing. Soon I'll be working full time and missing these days, so I'll enjoy them while I can.

At the end of the month Pride celebrations will be popping up all over North America, including Toronto, so I'm looking forward to that. Anyone have any exciting plans?

Time flies

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 09:29:14 GMT

It's true... at 4 p.m. on Thursday, April 24, 2008 I will have completed all the requirements of my MBA. This leg of my adventure is coming to an end in less than a week!

The only things that stand between me and completion of the programme are one final assignment and two final exams. I'm "working" on the assignment now... kinda, sorta...

Okay, I'm taking a break. Again. I'm on page 2 of 10 and moving at a snail's pace. I can't help it if I'm not particularly motivated to write up a fictitious integrated marketing communication strategy for Land Rover. But I have no choice. Well, I do, but I prefer not to fail the course and have to come back for one more year to complete my degree. And it doesn't help that the weather is absolutely gorgeous today: high of 25 celcius with sunny, clear skies. *sigh* I will definitely have to take a walk along Bloor St. this afternoon at lunch. It's not like I have anything else important to do.

This weekend is also my niece's first birthday party. My niece had her first birthday on Wednesday, so the family is getting together on Saturday afternoon for the official celebrations. Should be fun!

Here's a photo of my niece on the morning of her first birthday with her crazy bed-head hair:

Yes, hard to believe that she's already 1 year old and turning into a little lady. This is what she looked like a year ago:

Time definitely flies!

Looking back at 2007... Looking forward to 2008

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 10:52:19 GMT

2007 was a crazy year. Just thinking about everything that happened during that period of 12 months makes me laugh.

I started off 2007 just like most people do: with lots of hope and enthusiasm for the upcoming year. Shortly after the new year celebrations were over I was back at school dealing with assignments, recruiting for summer jobs, and then quickly after that came yet another set of exams. My birthday came and went without much fanfare since it landed smack dab in the middle of exam week, right before my Management Accounting exam. But once exams were over I celebrated with friends and enjoyed a relaxing reading week on my own.

In March, one of my classmates, Andreas, approached Adan and me about putting together a little conference. The seed for "Out On Bay Street" had been planted.

The break up happened on March 28. Kind of. Sort of.

My niece, Emma Salinas-Oliveira, entered the world on April 16, 2007. I've been spoiling her ever since, much to the chagrin of her parents.

At the end of May my sister, brother-in-law, niece, my parents, and I all went down to Mexico. There I became the godfather to my niece/goddaughter and had a great time relaxing, shopping, eating, and learning about Mexican culture and history.

June and July were tough months. Although there were a few happy moments, such as Pride, overall those two moments were the low point of 2007 for me. Being someone who is always busy doing something, like school or work, it was tough not having a job. Never mind that I was still struggling with the breakup that happened four months prior. I can only do nothing for so long before I start to go crazy with boredom. I tried to pick up inline skating... I even bought the proper skates and equipment... but apparently I am quite stiff so after three or four attempts I put the skates away until next year. Instead of sitting around for the rest of the summer I went back to work for my old company in July... which set the stage for the second half of the year.

August was a crazy month. Peter's birthday was at the beginning of the month, then in the middle of the month I was doing some work at Rotman for my employer with one of my dearest and oldest friends, Joshua. We obviously did a great job because we were asked to come back and do some more work in September. And on August 27, the hiatus came to and end... Peter and I got back together again.

In September, school started again. Work on "Out On Bay Street" started to become more and more intense. It was a crazy month: between starting classes again, working on a set of workshops with Joshua for international students at Rotman, teaching three BodyCombat classes a week, and Out On Bay Street, I had little time to do anything else. In October, Peter and I went down to Philadelphia to visit our friend Matt. The rest of the month was a flurry of activity with school, club related events... and then Out On Bay Street just took over my life for the last week of the month.

The conference was a huge success, thanks in no small part to Michael Went, Ariel Benibgui, Adan Campos, and Andreas Kouremenos. I was very proud of what we accomplished, and honoured to work with such a strong team of creative, ambitious, and talented men.

The rest of November and the first half of December were a blur... lots of school-related stuff. I also got a temp job working at Vintages (LCBO) for the rest of December so that I could combine my love of wine and a part-time job for a couple of weeks.

New Years Eve was a blast... Offer Nissim with Matt, David, Mathieu, Mike, Ariel, and Peter. Ending one year and starting the next with good friends... how can you go wrong?

And so 2008 has begun. In April I will be done school, so there will be a lot of job hunting/recruiting going on in the next couple of months. And with launching a career comes paying back student loans. 2008 will be a year of change. It will be exciting. It will be scary. It will be awesome! I'm looking forward to it!

We're Back!

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 01:45:45 GMT

Exactly five months ago today, Peter and I ended our relationship.

After a needlessly complicated and emotionally draining period, we ended that hiatus. We're back together again.

Sometimes you have to lose what you had in order to truly appreciate it. I think we both learned a lot since the end of March about who we are, what we want, and how much we mean to one another. Now it's time to see what the next challenge life throws at us will be.

My Wine Blog

Thu, 05 Jul 2007 11:04:29 GMT

Hey all,

I mentioned this in my last post, but just in case you missed it, I have another blog here on Xanga now dedicated specifically to my hobby:

http://www.xanga.com/WineGeek

I just got it up and running so there aren't many posts. Feel free to come by, read, leave comments, and/or ask questions.

Rolling with the punches

Tue, 03 Jul 2007 12:21:36 GMT

Has it really been over a month since I last posted? Wow... I used to be so dilligent with Xanga. I should get back into it again. I like using facebook for every day things like posting pictures and keeping in touch with friends, but writing on Xanga has a therapeutic aspect that I just don't get from other social networking sites like facebook, myspace, or friendster. In fact, I'm seriously contemplating closing or shutting down my pages on other sites since I gain little benefit from them. Downelink and friendster would be the first ones to go.

On the other hand, I have set up a seperate Xanga account to blog about wine. I figure that not all the people who have subscribed to my blog are interested in wine, so I'll keep my wine-geek persona on a seperate site instead. For anyone who's interested, please go HERE.

So what's been going on over the past month? On the positive side I had a great time over the past couple weekends with friends and family. Last weekend we had all the big Pride Week festivities here in Toronto (and yes, it is the same weekend as NYC and SF!) and I was lucky enough to spend that time hanging out with Peter, Matt, Matty, and David. We drank A LOT. Okay, maybe not ALL of us drank a lot, but I certainly did. As did Peter. A special thanks to my friend Marco who invited me, Peter, and Matt to Sunday Pride brunch. Marco is a fabulous host. He started off our Pride Sunday with some fabulous mojitos... and that was at 11:30 a.m.! The rest of Sunday is a blur... apparently I saw people in the street and said hi to them, but I have no memory of seeing them. My bad.

This past weekend was a long weekend here in Canada for Canada Day. I spent most of this weekend eating and drinking AGAIN! The major difference, however, was that I spent most of this past weekend with family. Oscar and Sonia threw not one, but TWO BBQs: one on Saturday, and one on Monday. Saturday night Peter and I met up with some friends for a Farewell Party for Jane, a fabulous Brit that we only met a couple times before but who obviously had a big impact on the lives of our friends! (She will be missed!) Sunday I spent the day with Peter just chilling. Our original plans got scrapped so we had brunch then went inline skating for a bit in the afternoon. Then we watched a really cheesey movie (Code Name: The Cleaner) before meeting up wth our friend Glenn for dinner. Then it was back to Peter's place for a couple drinks and some rum-soaked brownies and ice cream. Yummy!

So this week I'm going to be "detoxing" from the past couple weekends of drinking and eating. I'll be hitting the gym hard today, particularly since I haven't been since Thursday and I also have to learn the new BodyCombat release for next week. Gotta get cracking on that!

This past month hasn't all been parties and fun times. I hit a bit of a rough patch in mid-June where I was feeling down. It was due mostly to the fact that I hadn't found a job, but that got me feeling depressed about my life in general. I started to focus on the negatives: I had no job and therefore no income, I was still 20 lbs heavier than I thought I would be by this point in the year, and I was single again. I was in a funk for a few days, but eventually I shook it off and started looking at the bright side again. I have about six to seven weeks before school starts again, so I'd rather enjoy that time than waste it working at some random job I don't actually like, and then I'll have my student loans and scholarships/award money coming in to keep me fed and clothed for the next eight months during which I can focus on getting a real job. It also means I have just under two months to hit the gym and work off this extra weight (while also getting paid to do some of it since I can pick up more BodyCombat classes.) And as for being single? Well, we'll see what happens there. Being single while being in school is not a bad thing.

So as they say, onwards and upwards! Life is too short.

Mexico! Part 3

Thu, 31 May 2007 09:06:18 GMT

Time in Mexico is relative. When a Mexican says, "I'll be there in 20 minutes" what he really means is "I'll get there as soon as the traffic allows me to get there." My brother-in-law Oscar, who has lived in Canada for a few years, seems to be falling back into this habit of underestimating how long it will take to get from point A to B. Another thing is that when people say they will be at your home at 7 p.m., usually what they mean is that they will leave their home at 7 p.m. and then make their way over... so they will arrive when traffic allows them to do so, which is usually an hour or more later.

I've discovered the "Mexican Paradox": People here are very laid back and relaxed about everything until you put them behind the wheel of a vehicle. Then they feel the need to rush to where ever it is that they planned to go. You can expect to have a nice, leisurely dinner with people here, but then they drive like maniacs to get home. Go figure.

I'm spending way too much time with my family. All this bonding is great, but honestly, I don't need to spend 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with my father. I love him, but a lot of the time I feel like I'm baby sitting him, which is not exactly the feeling I want to have while I'm supposed to be on holiday. For the sake of our relationship, I'm going to need a vacation from him once I get back to Toronto.

For those of you who aren't on facebook, the links to the photo albums from my trip are here and here. Okay, time to start the next day in my adventure.

Mexico! Part 2

Tue, 29 May 2007 23:48:32 GMT

So I've been in Mexico for the past few days... what have I done and learned?

First, Toluca is one of the highest points in Mexico. Driving up the mountain from Mexico City to Toluca makes my ears pop, so I have to chew gum every time we drive to and from the city. It also means that for someone like myself that has lived at sea level most of my life, the altitude has some interesting effects on my system. Climbing up stairs makes me light headed, so I have to pace myself just going to the third floor of the building where Oscar's mom lives.

Second, stuff here is SO cheap! Well, relative to Toronto that is. A nice house in a gated community would cost all of $40,000 and a decent car goes for $7,000... so I'm thinking that I'm going to need a winter house. Food is really cheap here too. We have had some pretty good meals for six adults that cost about $80 including tip.

Third... it doesn't matter how cheap cars are here, I'll NEVER drive in Mexico City. Or anywhere in Mexico for that matter. Drivers here are insane and it appears that traffic signals and signs are for the most part decorations since few people actually follow them.

Fourth... El Globo is my new favorite place

Fifth... there's nothing like a cold glass of horchata to wash down whatever you're eating. YUM!

I've been posting pictures of my trip on facebook, so if you are already on my friends list go ahead and check them out there.